Class of 2018: Ruben Marquez

 


Ruben lounging inside the Conservatory of Flowers in San Francisco,

Ruben lounging inside the Conservatory of Flowers in San Francisco,

 


Ruben wandering the left wing of the Conservatory of Flowers.

Ruben wandering the left wing of the Conservatory of Flowers.

Ruben Marquez, Visual Artist

Identity isn’t a concept that holds visual artist Ruben Marquez back, on the contrary, it fuels how his work is put together piece-by-piece physically. Though if you would have told him that his sacred collages would be herald by current musical legends, progressives in the political space, and seen near and far by the millions of citizens—he would smack you. We toured the Conservatory of Flowers with Ruben as he sourced inspiration for his newest works involving hard-to-find flora.

Ruben Marquez, a photography art student figuring it out to now accolades from various major musical artists such as Solange, Janelle Monae, and so many more. How do you feel? Let’s avoid “how you did it” and frame it as “how do you feel?”

I’m not really sure how I’m feeling. It kind of feels like a dream I never really thought would happen to me. When I came to San Francisco for art school, I feel like I had more ambition than I do now. Maybe life beat me up a bit too hard that I feel undeserving of the attention I’ve received for my art, but at the same time, I work my ass off on the daily. I guess I’m just trying to be more present and aware of what’s going on around the world and how I can help.

Walk us through the process of your work—we’re seeing a collage moment that reminds us of Sassy Magazine and we want to know, how did you arrive at this look?

I don’t know what sassy magazine is but I’ve heard that I’m sassy. I feel like I’ve been doing this look since I first started making art. I’ve always been influenced by religious iconography. There’s a lot of power in those images. I started really taking it seriously around 3 years ago. 


Florals from inside the Conservatory of Flowers, Ruben comes to the Conservatory often to reference new collage items in his work.

Florals from inside the Conservatory of Flowers, Ruben comes to the Conservatory often to reference new collage items in his work.

While also being a color heavy artist, you’re also a LGBT artist—do the two play heavily into your work? If so, explain to us how so.

I wouldn’t say that the reason I’m color heavy is to do with my sexual orientation, I would say that a lot of the color comes from my background. Growing up Mexican in a Los Angeles community definitely formed the way I viewed color. 

How do you incorporate shapes, objects, and items into your work? Metaphorically and physically speaking, how do you create the composition?

I shoot most of my leaves, flowers, shapes on my phone and edit everything through my iPad. When I’m creating a composition, I usually just try to find balance within the piece, balancing the shapes of the leaves, colors and overall shape. 

We also get the feeling of creating these “shrines” for your subject within the compositions or that you like to call the pieces “Sacred Pop Art Collages,” is that intentional? Unintentional? Thoughts on this?

Sometimes I feel like I make consumer art of the revolution. It’s easy to share, looks good on everyone’s feeds and stands for something. Kinda like Jacques-Louis David but gay, chubby & Mexican. I make art I think my younger self would benefit from. They all show the LGBT community in a light you’re not used to seeing them as, and you learn for their legacy and hopefully you learn something about yourself or something you can apply to your life along the way.

Of course, life is unpredictable, but where would you want to see yourself going in the next few years?

Hopefully making art as a full time gig. I’m currently on the fence about doing the plunge and going freelance but I’m scared of failure. I’d like to make merchandise for musicians. I’d love to make someone’s entire album cycle, I have a lot of ideas but I just have no time due to how much you have to work in order to survive in the Bay Area.

What would you also like to add about being a queer artist in the Bay Area, any final anecdotal opinions to share?

I love being queer, and I’m happy and privileged to live in San Francisco. I do wish that, as a community, we could move away from just being social at night clubs and bars and built a community outside of those places. Another thing I’d like to touch on is being an ally. Being an ally to queer people, listen to them and what they have to say. Be respectful of people’s pronouns. It might be hard but at least show you’re trying. Listen to queer people, listen to their struggles, listen to what they’re saying. And try to be better.  Just because you say you’re an ally. Doesn’t make you an ally, especially when you’re censoring and upholding the status quo of hetero-normativity. 

// rubenmarquez.net


2018-09-03 12:25:25.640.jpg


2018-09-03 12:58:24.138.jpg


2018-09-03 13:09:43.724.jpg

 

Scroll to top